Sunday, March 08, 2009

Sri Sri Gets Spanked By Times Of India

A guru, popular for an admittedly revolutionary breathing technique that unlocks spiritual potential, organized camps across many cities on his birthday. Devotees flew in from all over the world and large crowds congregated at the allocated venues. The crowds and cars predictably kicked up so much dust that all those who attended and attempted the deep breathing technique in the middle of the dust haze fell ill. Blind devotion led to near physical annihilation for many. Is it not possible to be devoted to one’s guru and practice his teachings in the privacy of one’s home? And can this public demonstration of power and popularity by this guru signify, even remotely, his spirituality?

No. It signals his overwhelming lust to be famous (and to make his family rich.) But scratch that part about "revolutionary breathing technique." We hear it's just something Sri Sri came up with one day to give himself a head rush.

58 Comments:

How true, the lust and greed for popularity and money has lead the Guru astray. I have learnt the "revolutionary breathing technique "- its just a repackage of ancient yoga techniques - given a brand name and marketed extensively and gullible human beings fall for it.

I was a part of the now famed AOL in the 80s, and let me tell you there is nothing original in the teachings of Sri Sir Ravishankar.

Hi Anonymous (be brave to give out your name!!!),Either you never were a part of AOL or never got to really understanding the Mission & Objective of the Organisation. Sri Sri RaviShankar & his followers have been ceaselessly spreading the message of Love & Truth across the globe since 1982. Its not for nothing that millions across 150 odd countries are practicing the teachings with rich dividends.

To answer your comment on stolen practices, Sri Sri has given the world the unique breathing technique of 'Sudarshan Kriya'& hence it is a copyright. Any living being breathes, so therefore breathing has to be universal.....but the differentiating factor is the rhythm....& that is what is taught in Sudarshan Kriya. Sri Sri has openly acknowledged his learning days under Maharshi Mahesh Yogi.....he has been inspired by Adi Shankaracharya to Osho to Maharshi Mahesh Yogi...all learned Masters have been honoured by Him...all alike. He has openly said that His teachings are based on the holy philosophies of Vedanta....so where is the controversy?? If it was so easy to package that knowledge & have gullible people fall for it....there would a thousand Ravi Shankar around us..... truth is that He has actually given His whole life to the upliftment of mankind...something, which happens only in a a few lefetimes.....& we all are fortunate to be a part of that......Sri Sri has never asked for publicity or fanfare...its the media which creates that stature out of Him.

I request you to please come forward & expeience the fullness & enormity of the work done & then make your judgements...I will be happy to show you around...

Biprashish,I was never an active member of AOL, although I did take the basic course. The breathing techniques I learned were identical to standard pranayama taught in yoga classes all over the world. The sudarshan kriya was identical to "rebirthing" except it was done sitting up rather than lying down. When I took this weekend course, in the late 1980s, She She was claiming he had been given encouragement to teach by Maharishi. Anyone associated with that megalomaniac would know he would never have encouraged anyone to do anything but his own methods under his own banner with all money coming to him, not She She. This alone brands She She as a liar. Shortly there after Maharishi had his henchmen coming to all of She She's public meetings where they stood up and read a message from Maharishi denouncing She She.

The first thing you do is call anonymous a liar because he does not agree with your own bias. If you really are involved in AOL, it is you who are the liar.

I haven't looked into this myself, but from your posts, it sounds like religion may often get off-track in parts east as well as in western culture.

I have to say that in my own readings and experiences around meditation and contemplative prayer - mainly Buddhism and a stay at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Mass - I didn't run into anything ego-bound or foolish. The teachings definitely weren't about the teacher.

I think personality cults are unhealthy whether fascist, religious or celebrity-based. I guess with the celebrities there's at least the virtue (?) that it's relatively harmless.

Sri Sri has never asked for publicity or fanfare...its the media which creates that stature out of Him.

So far from the truth. SSRS is a damn publicity hungry guy who hankers for the media. He loves celebraties and no these celebraties do not follow their inner call to come to him. We the teachers, his PR machinery cultivate them. Ask any teacher in India how much he was dying to have an intro to popular actress HemaMalini.And he managed that. How much he wanted to meet Sonia Gandhi, she refused- good for her.He tried hard to cultivate the Congress in Delhi. They did not bite.How do I know? I was a teacher and spent a few years with him in India.

I just watched David Spero\\\'s webcam internet class.He was most happy with comments that suggested he had great shakti.He didn\\\'t like questions as much as flattery and completely ignored some difficult questions.Where is he getting his concepts from? Seems like a mongrelized Hinduismlove me narcissism which is only interested in feigning that everything you feel is because of him. But he does have something. What say you Jodi?

Wake up Bprashish. You are so blinded. You sound well educated, so my question is- how come you are so blinded. How do cults like AOL manage to control thought processes of educated people like you? To believe that SSRS is helping mankind, that he is spreading love across the world. How come you do not see that this is a family owned business and people like you work selflessly to fill his coffers? The kriya notes that are given to teachers there is an open reference to rebirthing as also Yogananda's kriya. It mentions that Sudarshan Kriya is different, How so is not mentioned in the notes.Infact, those notes make no sense. Do you not see that he has lifted his modus operandi from TM? There are opinions that ex-AOL members have expressed on this blog as well as on other sites on the net. Have you not read them? Do you not question Aol's success. Simply conducting courses cannot make an organization so wealthy. Does that not make you question the legitimacy of the organization's activities? It's time for some serious introspection. As a cult member it will be very difficult to get out of a cult. Therapy might be needed. That's how damaging these SSRS's are.Good luck.

I agree with you, Paul. I think personality cults of any description are big, neon-lit signs screaming that you have taken a wrong turning. They are immensely seductive however and attractive to us humans. We are lucky in having a capacity to learn from experience. When you've been seduced a few times it gets easier to spot the endless personality cults coming down the road.

I feel so sorry for you, you seem to be so innocent. Thanks for offering to show me around but I know my way just too well. I am no novice in AOL, being in the inner circles of the Guru way back in the 80s. Sri Sri has a Jekyll @ Hyde personality. Only those close to him will see the horrible side of him, to those outside the circle he is goodness personified. He has a nasty temper,puts people into awkward situtions by changing his mind frequently and gets angry when things dont go the way he wants.

Just observe him after the satsangs when he invites people celebrating birthdays/anniversaries up on stage, its so mechanical, throws a garland, throws sweets at the devotees and ignores people who clamour to touch his feet or to talk to him. Of course its different if you are VIP or a celebrity - you will get a one to one meeting with him in his kutir.

Why did Nandini Sen - AOL teacher and hardcore AOLite leave the organisation - ask her about the true AOL and I am sure she will have loads to tell you.

The man got scared when I mentioned that one of my friends knew him from his TM days. The man started bad mouthing my friend immediately.

Not that it would have made any difference to me about anything in his past, which is history. Going by the traditions in India, Valmiki, one of the great saints was a robber before he became enlightened. Hence, to me at least, I would certainly not have lost respect for SSRS

This one action put me off and though I still think he is a good soul, am having my own take about his enlightenment.

if you look a bit objectively at all the guru's you can find in both east and west, i think one can make quite a solid case that there are in fact a thousand SSRS like people around. ... Or maybe not, they don't all make the same amount of money.

Completely agree with the first post. I have attended Gurupuja and I found that its direct copy from Maharshi as given in the site. Most interesting is, AOL has started a course for learning Guru Pooja with handsome amount of fees. I also agree with comment about the knowledge influenced by Osho. and Sri Sri Yoga course started after Ramdev Baba became popular. I have seen the AOL teacher for Yoga, he is like cowdung, no where near to enery and enthusism of Ramdevbaba.

I spent a couple of months shadowing David at his invitation. I observed him in satsang and in private. In the end, I could not sanction his methods, and perhaps he felt betrayed.

But in my time spent with him, he never showed the slightest degree of insincerity. He truly does believe what he preaches, even if that is (or was) predicated on his special and elevated status as a bringer of shakti. While at his satsangs, folks were convinced they were "getting" something. It's reasonable to assume that at least some of those folks were helped in some way by that experience, just as folks are convinced they are helped by Sri Sri.

My experience at that time led me to conclude that guru-mediated experience is as much about suggestion and anticipation as it would be about magic powers of spiritual quickening. Since that was David's main teaching. I pulled out of his satsang and went on my merry way. But I still have a soft spot in my heart for David. In person, he was always gentle and kind. Any pettiness I observed was just of the normal, human kind. He seemed hurt when folks stopped coming, but in the end that didn't stop him from wanting to help. It's been 10 years since I last saw David, and he's still going. He may not make it as a big-time guru, but he's still doing what he loves and what he thinks will help, and he's not trying to enrich his family and place them on pedestals alongside him, as Sri Sri has clearly been doing with his family.

Anon, Nandini Sen is a fallen angel. She became too ambitious and fell from the Guru's grace.See teachers like the top socialite Rhea Pillai or Actress Nagma and Lara Dutta. They are totally surrendered to Guruji and see how well they are doing.The people Guruji blesses are in their holiness and successful.

If it is true that "Nandini Sen is a fallen angel. She became too ambitious and fell from the Guru's grace.", then imagine how fallen She She himself must be, for leaving his Guru, stealing his Guru's teaching material, his rich devotees, and setting up a competing business!

betty said...If it is true that "Nandini Sen is a fallen angel. She became too ambitious and fell from the Guru's grace.", then imagine how fallen She She himself must be, for leaving his Guru, stealing his Guru's teaching material, his rich devotees, and setting up a competing business!

3/13/2009 9:28 AM

Betty hardly talks but when she does, its pure wit,wisdom and a lot of other indescribable thangs..

The teachers mentioned by Anon are very poor examples!! Rhea Pillai is a maladjusted socialite who looks for rich men to support her life style. Check out how she fleeced her former husband even when she was with her current beau Leander Paes...http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080323/jsp/7days/story_9047075.jsp And instead of SSRS getting some sanity in her life, he only chose to piggy back on her men to get more publicity, money and network with their influential friends hoping for recommendations for the Nobel. So whether it was Dutt, Mallya or Paes it is SSRS who benefitted.So instead of bringing some balance, this greedy Guru encouraged and fanned the dysfunction of her personality!!Ditto for Nagma. The popular and reliable Indian news channel Aaj Tak showed how she had underworld connections.She had to withdraw from contesting elections. Her sordid love affair with much married captain of Indian cricket team Ganguly only added to her misearable image!!If these are the brand ambassadors of Aol then discriminative reasoning and thinking is required here. With these brand ambassadors, the question is - is not ,then, AoL a failed spiritual organization?

,He may not make it as a big-time guru, but he\'s still doing what he loves and what he thinks will help, and he\'s not trying to enrich his family and place them on pedestals alongside him, as Sri Sri has clearly been doing with his family.

This is a strawman argument. So because David, is not enriching his family (he does not have one. he is gay)therefore he is better than SSRS?or simply because you have a soft spot for him?

Anon, for your information, Nagma is no longer a teacher, she and her sister Jyotika are out of Art of Living. Nagma is a pompous character,when she was invited to teach in a foreign country, she remarked that if she were to teach, people would throng for her courses - and the course had to be cancelled cos there were hardly a handful of people who registered. Nagma got into trouble with the Chenna underworld and is now low profile - Where is the blessings of the great Guru?

Lara Datta is not a teacher - get your facts right man.

Rhea Pillai went through a whole lot of upheavals in her life - where is the blessings?

Its understandable most of us feel very passionate about our own Guru but we should not have such blind devotion, we have to open our eyes once in a way and see the reality around and not be a denial all the time.

he Miracle of Blessing - Article by Wu Chao-ChuanTranslated by Thow Peak Wan

I had felt to write down something to share with everyone about the experience of my child receiving the blessings of Guruji. But as I had been very busy, Inever got round to it. But seeing my child kneeling in front of a picture of Guruji last night really moved me. I could no longer resist writing down the experience with the hope of giving some food for thought for those who have either just started the Art of Living or who are hesitating at the door and have not entered in as yet.

Before the age of 8 my son had always been a strong, handsome and smart boy. I loved taking him out to play because I felt proud as a mother hearing thepraises heaped upon him by people. But the year he was going into primary 3, a car accident on the highway put an end to both of our dreams. The aftermath of the huge impact to his head meant that schooling was difficult for him and plus the fact that the surgery on his skull left an area which was bald and could no longer grow hair, he became the butt of the other schoolchildren' s jeers and insults. Names such as baldy, stupid, crazy were continuously hurled at him. The constant jeering left him feeling humiliated and angry but other than clenching his fists, he could not find any other way of emotional release. From then on he became the weak pupil in the eyes of the teacher. It was for him the beginning of an uncontrollable fall into an abyss of darkness. He was no longer a pupil with good marks, a lovely and lively boy. I could no longer see his clear bright shining eyes and innocent smile.

I could only see hate in his eyes!I know he hated the car accident and the man who had knocked him down with his car.

Brain injury needs a long time to heal. But I and my son were very impatient in our quest to return to the good old days. This resulted in a lot of conflict and pain for us. Especially in the area of his studies, it was like taking a big fall. Every night I painstakingly accompanied him in his studies but there was not any improvement at all.

In the end my child begged me to please give up on him. When he spoke those words he was only 9 years of age. That night I was so heartbroken I fell on the floor crying. In the midst of my tears I kept asking myself "What kind of a mother am I really? What kind of mother am I?"

From that night on, I told myself that no matter how bad his homework is, he is sure to have something in him that is better than others. I have to think upmeans to help him regain his confidence, at least I have to let him be happy again.

After that, I let him learn drawing and jazz piano. This is not for the sake of art but for him to get some form of emotional release. He did both of these really well and from these activities he got some measure of achievement and joy. But I knew that he was still unhappy about the fact that his schoolwork was not as good as the others. But he pretended not to mind.But the higher the grade, the closer he got to the top of the class, counting backwards. But we wryly smiled to ourselves in an effort to comfort ourselves, saying, "Never mind! At least he did not come out last!" But as he was such a fine student before we could not help feeling somewhat disappointed. We spent a few years like this. This year my son finally successfully graduated to middle school. We heard that the school will group the students according to their results. Of the 3 subjects - National Language(Chinese) , English and Maths, he only managed 30 marks in each of the subjects. It did not take too much of a guess to know which class he would be put into. But still we smilingly said, "Oh, never mind". I tried to encourage my son saying, " Maybe in the future you will be the dark horse which will surprise everyone!". When my son heard this, he just blankly said, "Oh, don't be silly!". It seemed that my son no longer held out any hopes as regards his studies.

But the Blessing Course held in the mid of September this year in Taiwan changed the destiny of my son forever. My sister was attending the blessing course held in Wulai Yun Xian Recreational Park. She was continuously calling to urge our whole family to attend the last satsang of the course which was held the night before the course ended. She said "Swami Pragyapad will be giving blessings to everyone. This is a very rare opportunity, so you should not miss out!" But because of various reasons, I just could not make up my mind to go. Finally, there was a dramatic turn of events and overcoming all manner of difficulties and mental obstacles, I drove my parents and the 2 children northward for the satsang. Frankly, I innocently went and quietly enjoyed being there. Whilst receiving Swamiji's blessings, my mind did not have any desire for anything. Neither were there any thoughts.

I just told my child: "Have a humble and grateful heart when you go forward to receive Guruji's blessings and feel blessed!" Afterwards, on the way home, I got lost on the way in the mountains and only reached home in the middle of the night. The children were very tired so I did not let my son do any preparation for the next day's tests. I just hurried him off to bed.

The next day after school, my child told me in an excited tone of voice that I had not heard in seemingly a few hundred years: "Mummy, Mummy, today I had 90 marks for my Natinal Language(Chinese) !"

I was stunned for a couple of seconds and then yelling with joy, I picked him up and holding him turned him round and round in celebrative joy. During these few years we had never seen such high marks before. It came as such a surprise! Especially in the subject of National Language (Chinese language). Because of the past brain injury, my son was not able to remember many words. Even words that a primary 1 or 2 pupil should know, he was still not able to write them out. How is it possible that overnight he could know them all?

Who will believe such a thing?

The following 2 weeks, every day my child will come back home and with that high pitch excitement tell me: "Mummy, Mummy, today I got 100 marks in my maths test.!", "Mummy, Mummy, today I got 90 marks in my English, I was the second in my class!", "Mummy, Mummy ......." ....

With every passing day, my son loved his studies more and more and his smile blossomed more and more each day.

For so many years, I had not seen my son like this... I had thought that I would never ever be able to see him like this.

Because of this, I could not help crying at night, but this time it was because I was moved to tears..

The huge change in my child's studies, if it were not because of the blessings of the Guru, what else could be the reason?

I finally experienced what grace was - it is when you have not prayed for anything and it descends on you when you really need it.

Seeing the scene of my son kneeling down in gratitude, what I am really grateful for is that Guruji has taken the hatred which was in my son's heart away and opened up his closed up heart and brought back to him his own innate kindness, confidence and happiness. This is the miracle that we had not dared to wish for.

Because of gratitude, I could not help but kneel down in front of the picture of Guruji. I feel so fortunate that I have met Guruji and have him as my Guru. It is only because of this that my son has such good karma today.

Jai Guru Dev2008.10.22 TaichungWu Chao ChuanPublic Servant, Nantou.(Currently studying in Life and Death Research Centre in Nan Hwa University)

I do not want to take away your joy about your son. But this is the kind of story I have heard in many guru cults from SahaJ Yoga to unification church to charismatic pentecoastal teachers. In just participating in and partaking of a presence of some guru your son did well in his studies. Got 100% in his subjects. Good for him and good for you. Also good for AOL as nice fodder for advertisement. Let me tell you the true story of my cousin. He was excellent in academics and a good sportsman apart from being a well loved sociable character. This was in 1992 before he came in contact with Sri Sri Ravishankar. After he did art of living course, Ravishankar encouraged him into yoga and meditation. This man lost all his intrest in studies and where once he was a topper in his engineering college he failed in his exams. He got involved in Art of living and their activities completely for the next four years. My cousin used to organize AOL functions, help in getting the photos of ravishankar printed and pastered all over the city and apart from this he used to run errands for the ashram. He was not given any money as it was a voluntary action. He spent four years like this. He never met his parents during this time and they were a broken people. Finally in 1997 he fell in love with a girl who was also an AOL volunteer. This was not liked by the Girl's family who were from a rich family of devotees of Ravishankar and patrons of the AOL movement. They complained to Ravishankar and the great guru asked my cousin to break up with this girl as he told him that this is a form of attachment and he needs to overcome this if he has to grow. My cousin was shattered. Gradually he was also treated very badly and alienated in the aol circles. One AOL teacher even admitted that this is from a direct order from the supreme guru himslef. After this he came out of AOL and started living with his parents again. With a broken education and means of livelihood this man is still struggling to make ends meet. He works as a small time salesman in Bangalore for some electronic equipment. His parents are getting older and find it very difficult to support him. My cousin has very many wonderful inside stories of the ashram. I am not sure if they can be used for propoganda of the AOL movement.

Happy to know that your sons academic performance has improved. A word of advice though, please do not attribute it to the Gurus miracle - its your undivided faith in him that the so called miracle happened. Faith can move mountains - even faith in a stone can create miracles. Sri Sri is not GOD or a miracle healer, he is a self centred, egoistic publicity seeking maniac. I am saying all these through my personal and bitter experience with the Guru. Have faith in GOD and that alone will take you to greater heights in spirituality.

I wish you well and hope that your son will excel in every aspect of life

The sad thing is that many of these "spiritual teachers" will lay claim to whatever positive things happen to innocent people due to their own innocence and faith. Of course they never pretend to have anything to do with the non results or tragic events that befall the same kind of people. These negative events would be because of karma or because the person had "fallen from grace." People should read some of the effulgent miracle stories associated with Sly Baba. He was performing miracles and pedophilia at the same time. If this young and studly Swami Pragyapad was a man of conscience and ethics he would have long ago departed from the Art of Living organization. She She has created a situation where his best and brightest followers must eventually leave to set up their own businesses, selling water by the river and ice cubes to Eskimos.

Dear Ramchandra Kulkarni, your cousin is not alone.There are hundred's of teachers/volunteers SSRS used to fulfill his selfish needs. And when they finished serving his purpose, they were discarded. One such teacher lives in Gujarat. The poor guy dedicated his life to AoL. He conducted some of the largest courses. He lost his mental balance. He was the only son of his aged parents.SSRS maniupalated the departure of this teacher from the ashram.It was very cunningly done. Today he is left with nothing,unable to make a living.He received no compensation of any kind. There are many many such people like this.

In deed, we are many who have spent our lives, youth and energy, to make ssrs and his familly richer and more powerfull. Who have no carrier, trying to get into the job market at an old age, no familly, no children. Who have bad health, and broken dreams.But we have to believe that we can make a life out of these circumstances. That the human spirit, the one we where looking for, is so strong that we can overcome even con men and robbers like sri sri

AnonNandini Sen may be a fallen angel - she must have been so hurt and disillushioned that she refused to attend her son's marriage at the Bangalore Ashram. Can you imagine a mother not attending a son's marriage - things must have been so bad. Just wish that she would spill the beans and tell the world exactly what transpires in AOL.

AOL started a real estate company - chased out the villages around the Ashram and started a housing project - apartments, villas etc - deposits were collected and its been two years and there is no sign of any development. Some of my very trusting friends invested and to date nothing has come out of it. The money must have used to purchase premium lands in Chennai for the family.

Its not only the best Unis in US but FYI the nephews of Guruji dont lift a finger to do seva - its the morons around them that do all the dirty work and the family live like dukes. Overheard by an ex AOL, the nephews claim that they only use branded stuff. The sister and sons travel business class all over the world - with whose money? Money from all the donations, money from the course fees that is supposed to finance the seva projects?

Its sad that despite all the revealations, AOL seems to be growing from strength to stength - only because of peoples blind devotion.

Its true how the guru uses people and once he has no more use of them he will discard them very cunningly - always leaving it to someone else to do the dirty work.

I think it would be a good idea to form a group of all the X AOLites and share experiences and let the world know that AOL is not the Seva organisation it claims to be and GURUJI is not GOD as many are made to believe.

These recent posts about She She's discarding of his servants is another correlation to his Guru, Maharishi, who left a trail of damaged and discarded lives in his mission to save the world. Maharishi's family became fabulously wealthy while many of those who loved and served the man lived and continue to live in poverty and often in despair. An amazing lack of concern for human beings by these merchants of love and peace.

I had gone to Rishikesh for an advanced course few years ago. A teacher, a young Black American woman was also there. She was there on her own. She would want to sit in the front row for all the satsangs and poojas. She was a bit in-your-face.But not threatening or anything.I was sitting with SSRS,Bhanu and some senior teachers in SSRS's kutir.SSRS ordered the senior teacher's to have her removed from the ashram.Her belongings were thrown out from her dormitory.Word was spread that she was unstable mentally and was disturbing the "energy" and "space". Bhanu even told some other people that she was causing a lot of negative energy among other participants. Rishikesh is totally unsafe for a woman to be alone there and that too a woman of non-Indian origin. Was this bastard guru not supposed to be protecting this woman,his devotee? And if she was schizopherniac-he owed her more.And in a foreign country much much more. Even if she had gate crashed he definately had a duty toward her. She had been his teacher in the U.S. That day I saw his callousness.And Bhanu's devious side.

Someone posted a message on how any and anyone can become Art of Living teachers. If the young American woman was mentally unstable, how did she become a teacher in the first place. I wonder if the great guru knows that some teachers are actually using him and his Sudarshan Kriya as a tool to lure people into other disciplines. My friend who did the course in neighbouring country remarked about how callous some teachers were, she mentioned that her teacher Ee Mei Lee mentioned that she was only teaching the AOL programs to bring more people into the Buddhist faith and that she never felt any devotion to SSRS, she was just using him for her own mertis. Her family members have said that practising the Sudarshan Kriya is harmful for the body.

Is this the kind of teachers that the great guru trains. He should just give up this spiritual business and go be a CEO of a company - that way he wont be hoodwinking anyone but earning his keep legitimately.

@anonymous: the gurupuja shlokas are from the Siva Shamita and therefore many vedantic movements have the same verses to their guru with their own alterations, i am also very much a part of aol and no i dont live in a denial , yes most of these large organisations are not free from criticism or politics or controversy,and yes Sri Sri has openly acknowledged that he has been a student of the Maharishi, as for Nandini Sen, i'd like to say her whole family is still quite over active in the organisation, she may have become less active, i agree that aol practices maybe ancient yoga techiniques taht would have died out had sri sri not revived them, as far as baba ramdev is concerned, aol teachers do naccept his brand of yoga to a certain extent(ask some docs in sri sri ayurved factory and they reccomend pranayamas like kesh kriya which are endorsed by ramdevand not at all taught by sri sri yoga), yes ok some people go over board and to extremes like ramachandra kulkarni's cousin and do seva at the cost of their education etc etc, an dthis i feel should not be the way, following a guru's philosophy in moderation is ok( this is what the core of sikhism is based on)and also intergrating it into our daily life is also fine as long as we dont go overboard. I do not see any harm in attending an aol course once in a while or attending a satsang sometimes too.. i also have a friend who used to be quite active in aol and all, she did the ttc, and became a coordinator at the cost of her education and got firings from all the teachers and so now she is a course coordinator and finishing her studies.... all i'm saying is that well all spiritual / religious organisations be it ISKCON/AOL/Sathya Sai Baba/or any other religious spiritual organisation, none of them are free from controversy or politics but aol is going from strength to strenght why? i guess because there are elements like me who simply dont go crazy......and yes rebirthing is also a form of rhytmic breathic, what makes kriya different is the rhythm from rebirthing...also,the lives of millions accross the globe have changed thanks to SKY, and Sri Sri, and also lots of seva activity is done. I also i donot live in a denial, but aol as an organisation is used for a lot of networking and business- why not if you can cultivate friends and contacts thru such organisations why not make use of them once in a way. after all Sri Sri isnt preaching thjat one needs to give up materialistic requirements and meditate in the himalayan foothills..... so i see no harm in following a Guru's teachings in moderation but then again i'm from punjab where the whole religious philosohy is based on the teachings of 10 Guru's..

Agreed Anonymous, nice to know there are balanced people in AOL, Since the gurupuja slokas are from the Shiva Samhita is it fair for AOL to claim it as their own and charge RS15,000 to learn to chant. Slokas and mantras are to be taught for free how can a guru commercialise it and put a price ?

@ at anonymous again did mmy charge a dakshina for the puja, when a hindu goes to tirupathi, obscene amounts are paid for darshan and that too most of the money frm tirupathi goes to the corrupt indian government and, the mantras of shiv shamitha are not easily accessible to everyone and there are not many thousands of aol devotees who know 2 perform gurupuja. Infact even when a personn goes to the church/temple/ mosque /gurudrawa/etc a sum of money is put in a donation box . same thing with aol altough it may be a bit commercialised so is every other organisation today...only that some parts of the money given 2 these organisations go 2 service projects even in organisations like ISKCON/Sai Baba etc its not only in aol. So why give money to corrupt government thru temples?service to humanity is the greatest gift to god ...ok so sri sri and baba ramdev may get a lot of press attention but so does srk.. atleast sri and ramdevji are promoting holistic living and a better world for mankind thru their techniques but has has shahrukh khan done for the general masses?? \that he deserves so much attention after all even high flying celebs and people like Mr. Mallya get a lot of publicity and they do damn all for a better world...

Its rather absurd to think that SSRS buys the media space always. Here in India the wholesome media needs to dish out all kinds of garbage all the time, I turned on the TV early morning to clear some hangups and my goodness gracious, I found almost all the TV channels were bitching like incredibly spiritual that early in the morning. Not just SSRS but a whole lot. GP may not even know fraction of the gurus seen on Indian channels.

But its news that SSRS is replocating Tirupati to his ashram. This one got me cracking. My personal take is that SSRS is such dumb thing who never sing properly or talk straight or even know much about deeper stuff but just chuckles and still managed to enmasse much attention. Media needs SSRS and other showmen who can shake the booty and walk the ramp and throw flowers at people.

I am so sick of hearing about how His UnHolyMess ME ME RavingEGO SHAMkar does GOOD... Don't we ALL, according to our conscience? (what is so special about his goodness?) Remember HITLER and BUSH also did what they believed was GOOD according to them... Don't you too? Get out of this GOOD FOR ?? business. It is an hiding strategy, a validation to the BIG TIME CRIME THIS flim flam is committing. HE is an exploiter.. Wake up!!

Anon said: I think it would be a good idea to form a group of all the X AOLites and share experiences and let the world know that AOL is not the Seva organisation it claims to be and GURUJI is not GOD as many are made to believe.

Thanks to Jody and other web hosters that allow the platform for just that.

I agree with you. How wonderful would it be if all the ex-guru-worshippers joined together and exposed their gurus and their scams? Let's blow the lid off the secret breathing practices, mantras and meditations they charge too much for. Whats with the secrecy anyways? Have you heard of anyone getting ill or having problems doing yoga or meditation who wasn't initiated by a guru? Sure you have, by the guru him/herself and the followers who repeat the stories! The secrecy is to keep the money coming in, duh!

Maybe if guru worshippers get to see that their guru and practices aren't much different from all the other gurus and practices, they'll wake up and take control over their own lives....or will they?

There are few things I would like to say - please consider with a balanced mind

1) The truth is the truth whether it its from the bible, said by osho, sri sri, buddha, your grandma, obtained from nature or your neighbour. So why would it be unique and original?

2) In Australia, AOL charges $250 for its basic course and $50 to repeat. Self development courses cost $400 on average for a weekend course and standard yoga class are usually $180 per 8 week term. It entirely your right to choose what suits you.

3) Sudarshan kriya is calming has never given me a head rush. I also practice ashtanga, go to the gym and take responsibility for my own feelings and actions.I don't really care if its the same as something else, I have gotten what I need.

4)your perception of the world and its people is determined by the climate of your mind

5) Nandini Sen is allowed to become more or less active in any organisation she is involved in

6)unfortunately there are angry, unhappy, disgruntled people along side happy, loving and content people. Thats life. All that matters is your own mind.

7)the breath is as old as life itself, it IS life itself. I don't think you can steal it.

8) Sri sri yoga is classical yoga with a smile. People who practice yoga sincerely - any form - know that yoga is about your attitude - your mind.

9)Spirituality is the relationship with yourself.

10) All paths of yoga, when guided by learned people can lead you to a calm mind. You have the right to obtain the above in the way you choose and allow others to obtain it in the way they choose.

11) Writing negative comments takes up alot of time and makes you and others feel low.

12) Doing and saying something nice for others makes you and others happy.

I think there are different sides to a growing organization like AOL. I have been associated with AOL for three years now, and have come upto TTC I, before deciding to move on independently, in my spiritual quest.Why? This is not because I do not respect Guruji, after all, he had a dream and pursued it - in the process he has helped thousands, and even healed many.

The thing with organizations is that they bring in different thoughts, ideologies, energies. And we all know that the only thing that's constant is Change. I have heard Guruji's Ashtavakra Gita and have marveled his knowledge and the way he has so simply yet beautifully put forth these teachings.

But even Gurus probably change with situations and times and people. Over the years, I have found friendly AOLians change- stressed out, tense, clamoring for attention. I do not know why.

After much introspection, I decided to keep a distance from AOL activities. I was part of the International Women's conference and ,while I do not want to question the ways of Guruji, I was a bit perplexed nevertheless.

I wanted to share this with you all. I am still not in the stage of being judgemental. I may never be judgemental only because I have seen Guruji eye-to-eye and I believe I understand his soul.

But I still want to pursue my own spiritual path. I love reading books like Paramahansa Yogananda's, life of Ramakrishna Paramahansa. My teacher was not too happy with my choice of reading other authors, but I went ahead.

It's my choice. And any true guru will know that spirituality is highly personal. He or she can only show you the path.

In the more down-to-earth plane where commerce has its place, I wish the true-blue AOLians good luck. My gut feeling is that, (going by the way AOL has diversified with alarming proportion in its business), they will need it.

This is a wonderful site.It is high time these god men are exposed.Do you think there is a more sinister plot then meets the eye with all this so called spirituality. I have many thoughts about Ravi shankar especially but most people just see him as a fraud whereas I suspect there is something more sinister to the whole thing.I know a lot about him but the net seems to be ignorant and what I know will shock even this website!!

"I know a lot about him but the net seems to be ignorant and what I know will shock even this website!!"

Please shock us! I am everyday more perplexed finding out how many people are seeing through the AoL and SSRS. I thought I was the only one who had been fooled, deceived, abused, used and tossed. I was like someone's cousin, who gave everything to him, worked for free, and once I had the basics done for him - which was a lot, by the way - he did unbelievably unethical things to get me out of the movement, making it appear it was all me. I have been accused of even stealing money at this point, when I never even took a cent even for medical needs. I wish he and his movement are officially exposed before someone convinces or buys the way thru the Nobel Peace Prize!

negetivity is part of foolish who r criticising ssrs and AOL because of their doubtful state of mind ruining themselves...and being the part of such a beautiful thing given by SRI SRI.I pity on u guys....u r innocent..!!! some people saying that he copied the old techniques of pranayam...i ask them how much u guys know about pranayam techniques..!how much u guys have studied about ancient scriptures in your small age...it takes about 40 year to study a veda thoroughly and about 20 years to understant it. If sri sri knows about it den that is the proof he is someone a believer of good mankind.Dont just think be positive and go through AOL course den start practicing wht u learn there den u feel the difference...it doesnt happend in short it takes time..but u should have patient..!! GOOD LUCK U ALL

.... An appropriate name for your blog could have been Neti Neti.— Rama

While we understand that gurus are held sacred by many, they
are also public figures deserving of scrutiny. Our primary aim
is to inject a little humor into what can be an excessively
self-righteous enterprise, and to illustrate the primary truth that
no matter how divine their devotees believe them to be, gurus
poop on the same pot we do.